Check if a change affects your SMI

When you report a change that affects your benefits, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will check if your support for mortgage interest (SMI) payments should change too.

They’ll write to tell you if your SMI changes. The money is paid directly to your mortgage lender so you won't see a change on your bank statements.

If your SMI reduces or stops, you’ll need to pay the rest of the mortgage yourself. It's important to continue making your payments - contact your nearest Citizens Advice if you've missed mortgage payments or are not sure what to do.

Work out if your SMI will change

How your SMI will change depends on what change you report about your benefits.

Your or your partner’s income changes

Your SMI might change if your or your partner’s income changes. Income includes money from work or benefits, as well as other things like a lodger.

You’ll get less SMI if your income is more than your:

‘applicable amount’ - if you get JSA, ESA or Income Support

‘appropriate minimum guarantee’ - if you get Pension Credit

‘maximum amount’ - if you get Universal Credit

You can find your applicable amount, appropriate minimum guarantee or maximum amount on the letter that told you how much benefit you’d get. If you’re not sure, ask your nearest Citizens Advice to help you work it out.

If you get Universal Credit and start work

If you or your partner do some paid work, you won’t get SMI for that assessment period. An ‘assessment period’ is the period of time the DWP use to calculate your next Universal Credit payment. Your assessment period usually starts on the same date each month - starting 1 calendar month after the date you submit your claim online or over the phone.

If you stop work and you’re still getting Universal Credit, you can apply for SMI again. Your SMI payments will start straight away as long as you’ve been getting Universal Credit for at least 9 assessment periods.

You go bankrupt or make an agreement to deal with other debts

You might need to pay the SMI loan back if you go bankrupt or make a formal agreement to pay off other debts you have - like a trust deed.

The DWP might stop paying your SMI and ask you to pay back any SMI payments you’ve had since 6 April 2018. Contact your nearest Citizens Advice if you need help working out how to pay your mortgage or the SMI loan.

You leave home temporarily

You might still get SMI payments if you’re going away temporarily - it depends how long you’re away and which benefit you get.

If you get JSA, ESA, Income Support or Pension Credit

You’ll keep getting SMI if you’re planning to move back in less than 13 weeks.

You might also keep getting SMI if you’re planning to move back in less than 52 weeks and you’re away because you’re:

on a training course or studying full-time and need to pay for 2 homes

If you get Universal Credit

You’ll keep getting SMI if you’re planning to move back home within 6 months.

If you’ll be away for more than 6 months, you can keep getting SMI if you’re away because:

you have to move out while essential repairs are done

you’re at risk of violence if you stay in your home - if you’re planning to move back within a year

You’re moving out of your home

Your SMI will usually stop if you move out. You won’t have to pay back the SMI you’ve already had until you sell the home or give it to someone else.

You'll still be charged interest on the SMI loan until you pay it back.

If you want to buy a new home

If you get Universal Credit, you can get SMI for a new mortgage.

If you or someone in your family gets JSA, ESA, Income Support or Pension Credit, you can get SMI for a new mortgage if you:

need to move to a home that’s more suitable for a disability

need to move so a boy and girl can have separate bedrooms - if they’re at least 10 years old

already have a mortgage for the home you’re moving out of - you’ll get SMI up to

the amount of SMI you got for your old mortgage

are getting Housing Benefit when you buy the new home - you’ll get SMI up to the amount of Housing Benefit you were getting

your JSA, ESA or Income Support is only helping with housing costs - you’ll get SMI up to the amount of JSA, ESA or Income Support you were getting

Someone moves in or out of your home

How your SMI will change depends on:

which benefit you get

whether the other person owns the home with you

If they don't own the home with you

Your SMI might change if you get Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income Support or Pension Credit.

If you get one of these benefits, the DWP will reduce your SMI if you’re living with someone who could pay you rent - like a grown-up son or daughter.

The DWP won't reduce your SMI if a child moves in with you. The DWP doesn’t expect them to pay you rent if they’re:

under 16

16 to 19 years old and in full-time education or training (except university)

If the person who’s moving owns the home with you

If they move out, you might get more SMI if the DWP thinks you’ll have to pay more of the mortgage. Your SMI will stay the same if you were already getting SMI for the whole mortgage or the DWP think the other person should still pay their share.

If the other person is moving in, you might get less SMI if the DWP think the other person should pay more of the mortgage. The other person might be able to get SMI as well as you.

You sell your home or give it to someone else

The DWP will take the money for the loan after the mortgage has been paid. You can’t use the money for anything else until the mortgage and SMI loan have been paid.

If someone inherits the home when you die, they’ll usually have to pay back the SMI loan from the value of the home. If there isn’t enough money left after the mortgage has been paid, the DWP will cancel the rest of the debt.

If your partner inherits the home when you die

Your partner won’t have to pay the loan back straight away if they were living with you - it can be paid after they die.

If there isn’t enough money left to pay the DWP back after the mortgage has been paid, the DWP will cancel the rest of the debt. They’ll only ask for more money if:

they think you deliberately sold your home cheaply

you gave your home to someone else instead of selling it

If this happens, the DWP will work out how much money you’d have got from selling your house on the open market - for example through an estate agent. They’ll use that amount to decide how much SMI you could have paid back after you’d paid the mortgage.

If your SMI reduces or stops

Contact your mortgage lender if you can’t afford the extra payments - it’s better to tell them before you miss a payment.